People Are Saving Money On Their Electric Bills Using Empty Cans - And It Really Works

Aug 27, 2018 by apost team

Typically, the average American household will spend about $200 a month on utilities. But as weather gets harsher in those cold winters and hot summers, those bills will inevitably increase. And since there's no way to get out of paying your utility bills, the next best thing is saving money every month. All you'll need is some empty cans and extra time to spend. With that extra time, you can save a lot of extra money.

When trying to heat his house in a budget-friendly way, Terry Johnson, an electrical engineer, found a solar heat collector design that he could make himself.

His house was always freezing in the winter and he needed something to make it thermally efficient without breaking his budget. So the electrical engineer used a couple of his weekends to collect aluminum cans and constructed the panel that he needed to heat his home effectively. The panel helped to warm his house by up to seven degrees.

The best part? It only cost him about $1.50 a year.

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With some help, the electrical engineer gathered exactly 272 empty soda and beer cans to start his solar panel project. After cutting the bottom out of the cans, he made baffles on the top of them to help direct the air. Then, he glued the cans on top of each other in sets of three. Matte black spray paint was used on the cans to help the air inside heat up. The cans were then fitted inside of a plywood box frame. You'll want to make sure that you lay out a sheet of polycarbonate on the top of the frame.

For this part, you may want to get the help of a handyman if you haven't done something like this yourself before. You'll want to choose a place where your house gets plenty of sun in the morning and then make a hole in the outside wall. This is a very important step, since you want your solar panel to be able to absorb as much heat as possible. And you'll also want to avoid risking damage to your home. Make sure that you maintain weather-tightness and that you have good flashings in order to prevent rot and degradation. If you put a solar panel on the roof and it didn't have adequate forced convection with fans, then it would get too hot and create a risk for fire.

This homemade solar panel project only cost Terry Johnson about $400 to make, but it saved him plenty of money in the long run. The only thing that you'll want to be sure of is that your solar panel will have access to a lot of sun, because it only works when it is powered by the sun.

This means that if you live in a shaded or cloudy environment, then this project may not be a good endeavor for you. And be wary, because these solar panels get extremely hot, so if you make one then be sure that you don't touch it during those sunny days.

This idea is worth considering, especially if you're looking to save money during the cold winter months.

Is a homemade solar panel using empty cans something that you would consider making? Do you think you'd have the time to invest to save the money? Let us know what you think and show this article to someone handy that you know!